by Zoe Norman
“What’s up, handsome?” Olivia’s mood is clearly lighter. “You looked so nice up—”
I wrap a hand around the back of Olivia’s neck and bring her face to mine, kissing her softly, taking her breath away.
“Whoa. Not that I’m complaining, but what was that all about?” Olivia asks curiously.
“That was about me being hopelessly and madly in love with you. I can’t get enough of you, Olivia Burke.” Olivia Burke. Olivia Burke. Olivia Maxwell. Olivia Burke Maxwell, I say to myself, trying the names on for size. What’s gotten in to me?
Olivia’s brow furrows seemingly confused by my random declaration. “Are you okay?” she asks, shaking her head and looking me in the eye.
“I’m awesome. Listen, I have to do round two of the whole picture thing with the group, but I’ll be back as soon as I can. Okay?”
“Okay, baby,” she replies. “I’m not going anywhere.”
Travis asked Marc and me, as his best men, to each give a speech during the reception. After some discussion at the club last night and a few too many beers to think it through, we decided to have distinctly different speeches. We agreed that one should be funny and the other touching. After a little arts and crafts session at the bar, we literally drew straws for speeches. Marc picked the longer of the straws, earning himself the funny speech. Of course, that’s the one I had all ready to go. I’m totally winging this, but I’m not nervous or worried at all. I know what I want to say—what I need to say. I just hope Olivia will realize that I’m really talking to her.
When I tap the live mic, it elicits a mild screech that inadvertently gets the room’s attention. The guests quiet down when they see me standing at the head table. I clear my throat.
“Good afternoon, everyone. My name is Owen Maxwell, and lucky for him, Travis has been one of my closest friends for well over twenty years. In that time, we rode our bikes together, built forts together, played football together, and tried to pick up girls together. He and I have had many good times, a handful of bad times, a few too many drunk times, and a considerable number of times I promised not to talk about.
“I have been Travis’s partner in crime, and his confidant. He’s gotten me into more trouble than I care to share, but that’s what having a best friend is all about. It’s about finding a connection with a special person. It’s about sharing the best moments together and helping to bear the weight when things are down.
“Travis met Lucy at a networking event, and when he called me later that same night to tell me about her, I knew just from his tone of voice that Lucy was different. Sometimes, your gut just tells you that you don’t need to look any farther,” I say, turning to look at Olivia.
“Although I’m still getting to know Lucy, I do know one very important thing: She has made Travis happier than I have ever seen him. I am so proud of my friend that he has married such a caring, beautiful, loving woman like yourself.” I turn to the crowd, my eyes settling on Olivia, “And when you find a woman like that, you will hold on to her with every ounce of your being because she makes you happy. She fulfills you and makes you want to be a better man. You love her so much that you’re afraid to breathe, because if you breathe, you’re afraid the dream will disappear.
“So with that, please raise your glass in a toast. Today, we celebrate the marriage of Lucy and Travis. They have reminded us how love can change our lives. Today is not just day of joy and happiness, it’s also the beginning of a new life for Travis and Lucy. I wish you both health, happiness, success, and a lifetime of love.”
I WATCH AS OWEN leans over, shakes Travis’s hand, and gives Lucy a chaste kiss on the cheek. He watched me the whole time he gave his speech, and a very hopeful part of me felt like he was speaking directly to me.
He stalks toward me, his eyes not leaving mine as he comes to stand at our table. He greets the guests at the table, shaking hands with several of the men and doling out innocent kisses to the cheeks of some of the women, including Travis’s mother. He is charming, charismatic and gorgeous. Breathtakingly handsome. There is something so fucking sexy about a man in a tux, and my man does not disappoint.
He takes a seat next to mine and, without a word, kisses me. It’s not an erotic or inappropriate kiss, but it’s ripe with feeling, of which I absorb its full grasp. When he pulls away from me, I stroke his cheek and look in his eyes.
“I liked your speech, Mr. Maxwell,” I declare.
“Oh?” he says with a smirk. “What did you like about it?”
I grin and lower my eyes. Taking a fortifying breath, I peer back up at him. “I liked a lot of things about it. I liked how well thought out it was,” I say as I trace a finger across his forehead. “And I liked that it came out of here.” I trail my finger over his lips. I’m conscious that others at the table might be watching us, but I have his rapt attention and I need to say this. “But most of all, I like that it came from here.” I run my finger down his chest and place my hand over his heart.
He just eyes me, seemingly unsure what to say.
I lean forward, plant a kiss on his lips, and then move in close enough to whisper in his ear, “You don’t have to say anything, but I wanted you to know that. I love you, Owen.”
I turn in my seat and feel his hand, which has dropped to my knee, give me a hard squeeze as the conversation at the table gets louder.
Once the dinner plates have been cleared, the DJ asks Travis and Lucy to come to the dance floor for their first dance as husband and wife. Travis pulls Lucy into his arms and holds her close as Lucy nuzzles into him. One Direction’s “You & I” starts to play. Owen grabs my hand, his thumb drawing small circles in my palm.
The dance floor opens up to the guests and Eric Clapton’s “Wonderful Tonight” fills the room. It’s soft, slow and romantic—a perfect dance for a magical wedding night.
“May I have this dance, Olivia Burke?” I hear from behind me. I didn’t notice that Owen had stood up. Now, he standing just to the back of me with his hand out, seeking mine.
I look up at my handsome man and take his proffered hand. “I would love to dance.”
He grins down at me and leads me to the dance floor. We find a place to settle ourselves before Owen slides one arm around my waist while his hand holds mine. He pulls me to him so we are chest to chest. I’m wearing heels, but he’s still much taller than me, and I bury my face into his neck, taking in the smell of his cologne. I could stay like this forever. His fingers stroke my lower back as we dance, easily finding a rhythm.
Just as easily, I’m lost to him.
I can tell that his breathing is off. He’s not out of breath, but it’s almost like nervous breathing. What does he have to be nervous about? I pull back a bit and peer up at him, our eyes locking. I can’t make out the expression he’s giving me.
“You okay?” I ask.
“I’m good. It’s just kind of a weird day,” he says, resting his cheek against my temple. He looks over to Travis and Lucy, who are still dancing and clearly lost in each other.
“I never thought I’d see the day where Travis got married. That he’d find someone who could be his equal, someone he would leave bachelorhood for, but he definitely did and it looks good on him. He had a bad childhood, Liv, and to see him be this happy...” He pauses, and my heart clenches at what I know is a painful shared memory for Owen and Travis. “Well, that’s all I ever really wanted for him,” he murmurs quietly.
He pulls me closer, tighter—so much so that it hinders my breathing for a moment. He starts to pull away just enough to look in my eyes, but not so far that we lose full-body contact.
“I never thought I’d be this happy either.” He swallows. “I’ve found my other half, and for the first time in...well...forever...I feel like I’m finally content.”
There is a pause as we both absorb what has just been said. Owen is ingesting, I think, that he said it out loud; I’m taking in that he feels this way—about me.
He leans down and places a whispe
r-soft kiss against my lips, moving across my cheek toward my ear. “Move in with me, Olivia,” he murmurs urgently.
I still, confused. “But, um, I am moving in with you Owen.” My heart is stuttering. Did he forget this?
“How much longer is the lease on your apartment? How soon can you move in with me?”
I squint for a second, trying to think about when my lease is up. Doing the math in my head, I realize that I only have one month left. I have already talked to the landlord about doing a month-to-month until I could figure out what Owen wanted to do. We haven’t really talked about it since the first time it came up.
“I believe I have a month left.” I lift my eyes to his, finding Owen grinning from ear to ear.
“I guess if I have to wait that long…” he says with a wink. “I’m looking forward to you moving in, making our apartment a home, waking up to you every morning, and having you in our bed every night…and a few times in between.” He is grinning, at first I think to balance the serious nature of what he’s really saying. Until… “Liv, I know I can’t give you marriage—at least not yet. But I can give you this. This commitment. I hope you understand how much I want this.”
I wrap my arms around his neck and pull him down to me, bringing his lips to mine. “I want that too—so badly, baby.” I look down, shaking my head. “If someone had told me a year ago that I would be moving in with the guy from the airport bar, I would have thought they were crazy.” He dips me back, making me giggle, and when he rights me on my feet, I touch his face. “And now I can’t picture anything different.”
“Good, because you’ll never have to. Forever and always, Olivia. Forever and always.”
The evening is a blast. Owen’s friends are fantastic, and it’s a wonderfully fun party. An hour or so after the dancing started, the older folks started to move on to their rooms, so the party has been taken over by the younger generations. The music changes to something more upbeat and club-like, the lights dim, and the open bar is...well...open.
We all have a good buzz going, and I’ve been dancing for hours along with damn near every other female under forty attending the wedding. Charley and I made quick work of creating our dance “circle” the second we made it onto the dance floor. We take this very seriously and have spent years perfecting our method of sharing dance space.
Eventually, we need to rehydrate, so Charley signals to me that it’s time to go back and get something to drink. I return to the table, where I find Owen and the guys drinking beers, laughing, and smoking cigars. They have opened one side of the tent, and the breeze from outside feels amazing. Owen is standing, his foot up on a chair. He has taken off his suit jacket, removed his tie, and opened the buttons at the top of his shirt. His sleeves are rolled up, and I appreciate his muscular arms. In my intoxicated state, he looks fucking edible. I can see a smattering of hair on his chest, and I have an urge to run my tongue through it. Mmmm. I move up against him, purposely pressing my breasts against his strong arm, and he looks down at me with a sexy smirk.
“Why do you look like the cat that ate the canary?” he asks me, grinning.
“Mmmm, because you make me purr like a pussy cat, Owen.”
He shakes his head and leans over, taking my mouth, his tongue lapping into me. He tastes like beer, cigar, and man –and it’s sexy.
“You are a very naughty girl when you’ve been drinking Olivia,” he smirks.
“I knowwww...” I confirm, slurring a bit. “You love it, too.”
“Yes, I do,” he hums as he bends down for another kiss, grabbing the back of my neck roughly.
“All right, all right. Break it up, lovebirds!” I hear Mimi calling from behind us.
I’m surprised she’s still here. I turn to find her beaming at us. Mimi is a fan of mine, and that’s always a good thing. I pull her in my arms and give her a big hug.
“Owen, come bring your mother to her car. I’m getting tired and I’m going to head back to the hotel.”
“You’re leaving us, Mimi?” I ask as I hug her again. “We’ll miss you. Be safe going back, okay? We’ll see you at the wedding brunch in the morning?”
“You bet, sweetheart. Try not to have too much fun, Olivia, and take good care of my boy.” She winks at me and I wink back, a mutual understanding passing between us.
I give her another kiss and a hug before I look at Owen. “I’m going to go to the ladies’ room and get another drink. I’ll meet you back here.”
He nods his affirmation and takes his mother by the arm, leading her out to her car.
I watch them walk out, Owen’s arm over his mother’s shoulder. He’s a good son, and that makes me prideful. He’s a good man in every way, and my heart swells when I think about how lucky I am that he’s mine.
I make my way to the ladies’ room and find an open stall. After a sizable amount of shifting and tugging, I am able to go to the bathroom without peeing on my dress. This dress may be pretty to look at, but it’s difficult to maneuver—forget when I’m inebriated. I come out of the stall and spend a minute fixing my hair and makeup in the mirror.
When I come out of the restroom, I scan the reception area. Owen isn’t back yet, so I walk over to the bar to order another drink. The bartender approaches me quickly.
“What’ll it be, pretty lady?” he inquires with a big smile.
“I’ll have a glass of Sauvignon Blanc please,” I answer, returning the smile.
Lickety split, the bartender goes about the business of pouring my drink.
“Bride or groom?” I hear a male voice ask to my left.
I look toward the unfamiliar voice, my brow crinkled.
“Bride or groom?” he repeats. “Are you with the bride’s or the groom’s side?” The handsome stranger smiles kindly and moves a step toward me.
“Oh! Sorry. The groom. Travis,” I reply. “You?”
“I’m on Lucy’s side. We used to work together.” He puts a hand out to shake mine. “Dane.”
I take his hand and give it a firm grip. “Olivia. Nice to meet you, Dane.”
“Pleasure is all mine, Olivia,” he murmurs with a bit of a lascivious grin, still holding my hand.
I would say that the look on his face is thanks to the alcohol, but then he lifts my hand to his mouth and kisses the back. Eww. I realize that he has my left hand and he is turning it to see if I have anything on my ring finger. I pull my hand away, suddenly feeling embarrassed and self-conscious. I’ve never really cared that I don’t have a ring, but somehow, at a wedding, and with this douchey guy starting to hit on me, I’m uncomfortable about it. Part of me wants to scream, “Yeah, I know there’s no ring...but I do have a guy!”
“Are you here with anyone, Olivia?” he mutters as he leans closer to me. I can smell the whiskey on his breath.
“Actually, she is. She’s here with me.”
I freeze at the sound of my man behind me, and a slow grin starts to come across my face. I see Owen’s arm come out around from behind me, reaching out to Dane.
“Hi. I’m Olivia’s boyfriend. And you are?”
As Owen makes friends with the jackass, the bartender brings me my glass of wine. I take a long sip as I watch their interaction unfold.
“Hey, man. Nice to meet you too. Dane.” He smartly takes a step back from me as Owen moves into my peripheral vision from behind me. Dane looks at me and then back at Owen. “You’re a lucky man...umm…”
Owen nods at him. “Owen. And yes, I am an unbelievably lucky motherfucker.”
Yep. Owen’s drunk. If we were dogs, he would be urinating against my leg or in some sort of circular pattern around me, marking me as unavailable and completely his right about now. But, in true Owen fashion, in lieu of urinating on his property, he chooses to mark me in the way he prefers. He turns to me, his hand grabbing the nape of my neck, and pulls me to him, kissing me with more tongue than absolutely necessary to make his point. He damn near starts to lick my face. I giggle. I can’t help myself. I like when he’s
possessive. I like being possessed.
“It was nice meeting you, Dane, but I think my boyfriend wants a word with me.”
Dane nods, says his goodbyes, and leaves us.
I turn into Owen’s chest and look up at him. “You’re such a shit.” I laugh.
He laughs back, giving me his wide, toothy, sexy grin. “No one touches my lady. You ready to leave? I think it’s time for a little something to remind you who you belong to, you fucking goddess.”
Owen pulls out his phone and calls our limo driver, letting him know that we’re ready to head out. We find Travis and Lucy and say our goodbyes.
“We’ll see you at brunch in the morning. If you’re late, we’ll understand,” Owen says to Travis and gives him a hug.
Travis smiles. “You’re one to talk, fucker. Thanks for everything today. I love you, man.”
“Love you too, brother. See you tomorrow.”
They slap each other on the back several times, almost reluctant to leave each other. It’s sweet—in a ‘bro’ kind of way.
Owen takes me by the hand and guides me down the gravel path to the waiting cars. The pebbles make it difficult to maneuver in my high heels, so he gently takes hold of my waist to keep me from falling. As we get to the paved area and bide our time for the car service, he wraps an arm over my shoulders and kisses me on the head. It has gotten cooler, so I’m shivering a bit. When our limo arrives, Owen opens the door and waves me in. I climb in the back of the car as daintily as I can and slide to the opposite end of the limo. He follows and settles next to me. It’s a large limo. Not a stretch, but there is a great deal of leg room back here. Owen and our driver exchange greetings and confirm our hotel before raising the glass partition, closing us off from our driver.
I put my clutch down on the floor and glance over at Owen. His tie is peeking out of his front pocket, and he’s sitting back with his legs spread wide apart and his right arm propped on the door. He looks completely relaxed. Relaxed and starved for me. It’s slightly unnerving and exhilarating at the same time.